In the final chapter in the road to ATP FINALS at Walsall Tennis club on March 2nd, Paul Maguire the reigning Wimbledon and defending US Open champ lost out to our 7th different Grand Slam champion in 8 events. On February 9th offering around 3 different micro climates, 9 players battled it out in the US Open to secure and jostle for end ranking positions for the big £60 knockout finals in March. We had another first, yours truly becoming the first man NOT to win a group game, to the joy of the rest of the field looking for bigger points from progressing to the elimination stages. For some only a top four finish would be enough, and for others a fourth quarter final defeat would lead to a agonisingly near miss on qualification for the big one. On a positive note we had one guy Jack in his temperamental issues for the day and let his racket and talent to the talking throughout.

Here’s how the 9 man handicap round robin panned out, including the handicaps they played off in the race to 7 points, when both players had minus starts the scores were brought closer to zero, and likewise when both players had plus handicaps.

CLAYTON EDGE -7 WON 0/8 9TH

DAVID KHAYAT +3 WON 4/8 4TH on more points than Tim and Paul

RHIANNON ROBINSON +2 WON 3/8 7TH on more points than Luke

LUKE GWALCHMAI +1 WON 3/8 8TH on less points than Rhiannon

JACK EVANS O WON 7/8 1ST

PAUL MAGUIRE -3 WON 4/8 6TH on less points than David and Tim

DALLA GHUMAN -7 WON 6/8 2ND

TIM BOLAND -1 WON 4/8 5TH on less points than David

GRAYSON MARLOW +1 WON 5/8 3RD

Very close group as Clayton gets eliminated, Jack was super consistent just dropping 1 point to top the group with cracking displays by Grayson and David in 3rd and 4th, Dalla gets a high finish and has to win quarter final to stand any chance of qualifying. Luke was on the beach already knowing his qualification for FINALS are sorted after two final appearances.

To the Quarter finals where handicaps are retained and now become best of 3 tie break matches.

Finally, Jack see’s off his bogey man, David pulls off an amazing scalp to defeat Australian champ Tim for his highest ever finish. Grayson gives Paul a terrific run but cannot advance to the semi’s in his first season and Dalla continues his charge by edging past our only female competitor Rhiannon who will be looking towards next years slams.

So while the rest are doing the maths, there is a Grand Slam to be won, can Jack sleigh the successful 2 time winning beanstalk, or can it be a delightful threesome of victories if Paul can avoid a giant killing?

FINAL

1ST JACK v 6TH PAUL…. JACK WINS 5-7 7-4 7-6 coming from behind to end a fantastic day by losing just 2 out of 14 sets, while Paul continues to be the man to beat as is reflected by him topping the rankings table, a great feat in itself but as Paul knows it’s still anybodies (well the top 8 anyway) come the finals, as he painfully found out last year.

All competitors had a great time in what was another high quality Grand Slam, the handicaps are there to give every possibility for close games and unpredictable results, but they can’t account for players being in top form or being totally out of sorts, or how players can react to coping with the handicaps given in pressure situations.

So let’s find out what today’s earned points do the final leader board and who will be the 8 competitors on March 2nd for ATP TITLE, TROPHY and £60 PRIZE?

………….HANDICAP US OPEN EVENTS TOTAL POS CHANGE

1ST P MAGUIRE -3 13 4 41 =

2ND J EVANS 0 16 4 31 +5

3RD T BOLAND -1 4 4 30 -1

4TH L GWALCHMAI +1 2 3 28 -1

5TH D WRIGHT -3 – 2 23 -1

6TH C MAGUIRE +1 - 3 19 -1

7TH R BRAZIER -7 - 1 16 -1

8TH D GHUMAN -7 10 2 14 +3

9TH G MARLOW +1 5 4 13 =

10TH D KHAYAT +3 7 3 10 +2

10TH A HULL -1 - 1 10 -2

12TH R ROBINSON +2 3 4 8 -2

3 PLAYERS ON 1 POINT.

So Paul tops the group with 1 semi, 1 runner up and winning Wimbledon. US open champ Jack is jumping from 7th to 2nd to become 2nd seed. Tim overtakes Luke into 3rd. 23 points from 2 events is enough for Dudley to rest in 5th, Chris holds on to 6th with great scores from 3 events. Ryan takes 7th with 1 win from 1 appearance and Dalla earns his spot with 10 points to pip the deperately unlucky Grayson into 8th by 1 point.

So here is the knockout draw for March the 2nd to be played best of 7 sets for Quarters and Semi’s. Final will be best of 9 sets. Entry is £5

Q1 1ST P MAGUIRE V 8TH D GHUMAN

Q2 4TH L GWALCHMAI V 5TH D WRIGHT

Q3 3RD T BOLAND V 6TH C MAGUIRE

Q4 2ND J EVANS V 7TH R BRAZIER

SEMI 1 Q1 V Q2

SEMI 2 Q3 V Q4

THEN FINAL, No replacements will given for non attendees, as what would be the point of qualifying when we all know in a handicap positions 9 or 10 could easily go on to win that knockout. If your quarter final opponent isn’t available at 2pm on March 2nd then you advance to the Semi’s.

What a fantastic Grand slam season, thanks to all those that played and best of luck to those 8 qualifiers on March 2nd, could those competitors please confirm your place asap.

Last Sunday January 12th, saw a little piece of history written in the seventh winter handicapped grand slam singles event. We eventually got our FIRST ever TWO time winner, albeit from an unlikely source, given the players’ early form and dismal points total. It was a very fresh afternoon as the third event of the season ‘Wimbledon’ took place to leave us with many eventualities for the final slam on Feb 9th to see who can clinch the 8 qualifying places and in which order for the ATP finals. Nine players took the courts with 1 débutante looking to make an impact on the rankings table.

Here is how the 9 players got on with their handicaps in the race to 7 points round robin, in a bid to make the quarter finals and take home big ranking points. Dudley returned looking to secure an ATP final place and Alex Hull came in to upset the apple cart, as Rhiannon, Paul, Dudley, Tim all hoped they could be the first multiple grand slam winner but more importantly grab the 16 ranking points. Once again everyone won at least 2 matches as the slams continue to remain so competitive.

RHIANNON ROBINSON +2 WON 2/8 36 POINTS 9TH as less points than Dave.

TIM BOLAND -1 WON 6/8 50 POINTS 3RD as less points than Dudley and Alex

CHRIS MAGUIRE +1 WON 4/8 47 POINTS 4TH as more points than Paul

PAUL MAGUIRE -3 WON 4/8 35 POINTS 5TH as less points than Chris

GRAYSON MARLOW +1 WON 3/8 45 POINTS 6TH as more points than Jack

JACK EVANS O WON 3/8 42 POINTS 7TH as less points than Grayson

DAVID KHAYAT +3 WON 2/8 40 POINTS 8TH as more points than Rhiannon

DUDLEY WRIGHT -2 WON 6/8 51 POINTS 2ND as less points than Alex

ALEX HULL -1 WON 6/8 53 POINTS 1ST as more points than Dudley

Great display from Alex to top the group with 6 wins, and earn him at least 5 points should he lose in quarter final. Paul should be thankful it goes on Wins before points as 35 was the lowest as he disastrously lost his first four games before responding well, and Rhi just got pipped by Dave for 8th by 3 points, while Chris delivers another consistent display of results in 4th. Onto the quarters where form means nothing in the best of 3 set format.

Paul suddenly playing faultless tennis and stops Alex’s impressive debut run, which already puts him into 8th spot on the leaderboard, where Tim’s 7 points leaves him in joint 2nd. So PAUL or DUDLEY will be that man, the first ever two time winner. Paul, last year’s US OPEN champion and Dudley last years FRENCH OPEN winner. Who’s our 2014 grass court champion going to be?

FINAL

5TH PAUL v 2ND DUDLEY…. PAUL WINS 7-2 3-7 7-4 Another cracking final to end a great event as the rest of the field sips hot chocolate as Paul believed in Miracles from not being able to hit a barn door with a bazooka to finding greatness to win WIMBLEDON in the deciding set, leaving Dudley to think of what might have been. Well played both.

All competitors had a great time in what was another high quality Grand Slam to date, the handicaps are there to give every possibility for close games and unpredictable results, but they can’t account for players being in top form or being totally out of sorts, or how players can react to coping with the handicaps given in pressure situations.

Remember, you can still qualify for the ATP finals even if you didn’t enter the 3 previous Opens, 16 points for the win at the US OPEN may just scrape you in if results go your way.

FEBRUARY 9TH US OPEN 1PM ENTER NOW

MARCH 2ND ATP FINALS 1PM, for top 8 only, no replacements.

Here’s what the Wimbledon results do to the leaderboard.

1ST PAUL MAGUIRE 28

2ND LUKE GWALCHMAI 26

2ND TIM BOLAND 26

4TH DUDLEY WRIGHT 23

5TH CHRIS MAGUIRE 19

6TH RYAN BRAZIER 16

7TH JACK EVANS 15

8TH ALEX HULL 10

————————————

9TH GRAYSON MARLOW 8

10TH RHIANNON ROBINSON 5

11TH DALLA GHUMAN 4

12TH DAVID KHAYAT 3

13TH CRAIG EASTWOOD 1

13TH MICHAEL BOLAND 1

So some may opt out of US open, but remember 1st v 8th, 4th v 5th, 3rd v 6th, 2nd v 7th, so just be careful you don’t land your bogeyman by not playing, a top 4 finish from 11th upwards may do it, and a win certainly will, from 6th place down, playing is highly recommended if you want your shot at the £60 cash prize and title, over to you guys to do the maths. 1st – 16 2nd -13 3rd- 10 4th- 7 5th- 5 6th- 4 7th- 3 8th- 2 playing -1.

Paul takes top spot, Alex becomes a contender, Grayson needs a big US open, See you on the 9th Feb.

Where to start? What a Grand slam this one was, we had the 3 toughest handicaps to date for 3 of the 4 debutants in the 2nd Slam of the Winter series. We had an ultra competitive 10 round group stage, we had shocks galore, never seen before scenario’s, 4 out 7 knock-out matches go the distance and an unbelievable SIXTH different winner in SIX events.

A mild and dry 4 hours tennis feast was held this past Sunday in a rare competitive singles tournament in the second Open, of the Second ever Grand slam of Handicap singles Tennis at Walsall Tennis Club. Competitors are invited to play in 4 Grand Slam events, fighting for ranking points to be tallied up at the end to find the top 8 totals. They will then go on to compete for £60 cash prize and Grand slam champion title at the ATP finals in March.

After 74 handicap 1st to seven point sets were completed, we had a NEW ATP Ranking point’s Leader in Luke Gwalchmai, and a 3 way tie for the vital 8th qualifying place with the Wimbledon and US Opens to come. Rhiannon once again was the lone girl ranger but this time had 10 gents to trade blows with. Handicaps once again proved accurate with predictions almost impossible as everyone won at least 2 games and everyone losing at least 2 games, just 1 win separated 6 of the 11 competitors, which was insanely competitive. Once again top 8 would qualify for the knockout stages. Here are the competitors, the handicaps they played off and their results and group placings. When BOTH players had plus OR minus handicaps, starting scores were adapted so at least one player started on zero in the race to that magical 7 point target.

RHIANNON ROBINSON +2 WON 2/10 57 POINTS 10TH

LUKE GWALCHMAI +1 WON 5/10 51 POINTS 8TH as less points than Jack and Ryan

CHRIS MAGUIRE +1 WON 5/10 58 POINTS 5TH as more points than Jack and Ryan

JACK EVANS O WON 5/10 52 POINTS 7TH as lost to Ryan

GRAYSON MARLOW +1 WON 6/10 59 POINTS 4TH as less points than Tim

TIM BOLAND -1 WON 6/10 62 POINTS 3RD as more points than Grayson

CRAIG EASTWOOD -4 WON 3/10 40 POINTS 9TH

MICHAEL BOLAND +2 WON 2/10 49 POINTS 11TH

RYAN BRAZIER -7 WON 5/10 52 POINTS 6TH as beat Jack

PAUL MAGUIRE -3 WON 8/10 65 POINTS 1ST

DALLA GHUMAN -7 WON 7/10 56 POINTS 2ND

What a group, Ryan wins 1st 4, then loses focus on next 4 putting qualification into some doubt, Dalla had nightmare start losing heavily in first 2, before winning 7 out of next 8. Paul wins group with 8 wins, Grayson had a very slow start before a cracking 4th place finish, Chris 5th in a very solid campaign as Jack keeps impressing with unbelievable talent during sporadic periods of good temperament and Luke makes up the 8 qualifiers.

These results meant that the top 8 qualified for the knock out tournament, however these positions above would determine where losing quarter finalists and semi finalists would finish in relation to fellow losers. Knockout matches would be same handicaps and best of 3, first to 7 point tie breaks with handicaps being used in every set.

For the 1st time ever all 4 top seeds crash out, meaning Grayson only collects 2 points as pushed down to 8th as a result of being lowest ranked QF loser. Chris makes first ever semi with comfortable win, 8th beats 1st as Luke grinds out Paul in two close sets, Ryan comes back against Aussie champ Tim, whilst Jack hit blistering ground-strokes in the match of the day against Dalla, who’d fetched back a 7 point deficit to then go on to lose when it seemed all the hard work had been done at 2-2 in decider. All four winners guaranteed more points than their group finish.

Two more cracking 3 setters, superb days for Chris and Jack, Luke quietly advances as all eyes were on Ryan having to overturn a 7 point deficit and then a 1 set deficit. Could Luke go that 1 match further for a deserved slam victory after last month’s final agony against Tim?

FINAL

8TH LUKE v 6TH RYAN RYAN WINS 7-3 7-3 A crazy day ends with a 1 sided final, proving how unpredictable each match up can be and how playing styles can work against one player and then just not work against another. Great credit to Ryan winning off an incredibly hard -7 handicap yet proving it was the correct handicap and the best player is still capable of winning the tournament so long as they can hold it together and blank out the score pressure and play each point like they are match point down. Luke with 2 finals out of 2 is clear leader and maturing into a steady performer.

All competitors had a great time in what was the highest quality Grand Slam to date, the handicaps are there to give every possibility for close games and unpredictable results, but they can’t account for players being in top form or being totally out of sorts, or how players can react to coping with the handicaps given in pressure situations.

Remember, you can still easily qualify for the ATP finals even if you didn’t enter the Australian or French Open’s.

WIMBLEDON 1PM Sunday January 12th

US OPEN 1PM Sunday February 9th

ATP FINALS top 8 only Sunday March 2nd 1PM

Already entered for WIMBLEDON are Tim Boland and Alex Hull so a maximum of 10 places remaining, be quick to enter!!

So here are the current ATP RANKINGS

1ST LUKE GWALCHMAI 26 POINTS

2ND TIM BOLAND 19 POINTS

3RD RYAN BRAZIER 16 POINTS

4TH CHRIS MAGUIRE 14 POINTS

5TH JACK EVANS 12 POINTS

5TH PAUL MAGUIRE 12 POINTS

7TH DUDLEY WRIGHT 10 POINTS

8TH GRAYSON MARLOW 4 POINTS

—————————————————

8TH DALLA GHUMAN 4 POINTS

8TH RHIANNON ROBINSON 4 POINTS

11TH CRAIG EASTWOOD 1 POINT

11TH MICHAEL BOLAND 1 POINT

11TH DAVID KHAYAT 1 POINT

Luke takes pole position, new entry Ryan takes 3rd place, while Chris leap frogs brother Paul who must be gutted after heading the 11 man group stage. 2 more chances to make the ATP finals on March 2nd.

So well done Ryan and Luke, 4 weeks to go for WIMBLEDON on JANUARY 12TH 1PM….. ENTER NOW!!!

Eight spaces down, 4 to go for Sunday’s French Open, which saw Dudley (pictured) take the title lastyear.

Keep fighting for those ranking points to make the £60 ATP finals on March 2nd for the top 8.

Australian Open winner Tim is in pole position, but another 16 points is up for grabs this Sunday at 1pm. We have 2 new players coming in so far to add to the mix. Entries and probable handicaps are below.

Dave Khayat +3

Michael Boland + 2

Rhiannon Robinson +2

Grayson Marlow +1

Luke Gwalchami +1

Tim Boland -1

Paul Maguire -3

Ryan Brazier -7

Clayton Edge -7 (playing if under 12 entries)

Remember my job is to ensure the best and worst player have the same chance of winning the tournament, depending how well they can hold their nerve. So far in 5 grand slams 5 different winners and winner gets FREE entry into Wimbledon, Runner up gets half price.

See you Sunday and enter quick, I’m expecting a full house for this one.

Emmanuel Omodeni has not long won the ATP Finals and £50 with New Shield, but the defence starts here. Players are awarded either minus, even or plus handicaps for each match. Each match is first to 7 points, with players starting each one on their individual handicap appropriately picked by me. A knockout draw follows with best of 3 sets after initial group stage for the top 8 players.

There will be the following 4 GRAND SLAM TOURNAMENTS costing £8 to enter (or enter all 4 now for £25)

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 1PM Sunday November 24th

FRENCH OPEN 1PM Sunday December 8th

WIMBLEDON 1PM Sunday January 12th

US OPEN 1PM Sunday February 9th

For Each Grand Slam the top 8 will receive RANKING POINTS as follows, Winner -16 2nd- 13 3rd- 10 4th-7 5th-5 6th-4 7th-3 8th-2 all other entrants will receive 1 point. Each Grand Slam will most likely consist of round robin matches then a knockout draw for top 8 on the day.

A RANKINGS Table will be kept over the 4 Grand Slam events and The TOP 8 point scorers will qualify for….

The ATP TOUR FINALS 1PM Sunday March 2nd

Quarters and semi’s best of 7 sets followed by the FINAL for £60 prize, best of 9 sets.

Each tournament will carry a small prize for winner and Certificates for Winners and Runners Up, obviously you don’t need to play every Grand Slam to Qualify for ATP finals, providing you get enough points from the events you do play! OK so this is for anyone, beginners, non-members or A team play.

Wow, the Australian was competitive but the French Open this past Sunday was another level, so many close matches. Even though the two form players reached the finals they were both within 1 or 2 points of being eliminated in both the Quarters and Semi finals, as every knock out match went a deciding tie break set.

This was the second tournament to grab between 1 and 16 ranking points for the competitors in their bid to reach the knockout tournament at the ATP finals in February for the chance of becoming the FIRST EVER WINTER GRAND SLAM HANDICAP SINGLES CHAMPION and taking the £50 CASH PRIZE. We had another 4 new faces enter the 2nd of 4 Grand Slams, the French Open, making it a bigger field of 11 vying to qualify for a last 8 knockout draw after a gruelling round robin tournament!

After the only competing lady, Rhiannon winning the Australian, it looked doubly worse for the men when WTC singles champ Hazel entered to take on 8 fearful males. Here’s how they all fared in the group stage and the handicaps they played off in the race to 7 points tiebreaks!

RHIANNON ROBINSON +2 WON 6/10 61 POINTS 4TH

RICHARD WOODSTOCK +2 WON 4/10 56 POINTS 8TH

CHRIS MAGUIRE +1 WON 5/10 51 POINTS 7TH on less points than Dave and Nick

SIMON BELCHER 0 WON 2/10 44 POINTS 10TH

ROB SOUSTER 0 WON 3/10 48 POINTS 9TH

NICK ALLEN -1 WON 5/10 56 POINTS 5TH on more points than Dave and Chris

ANTHONY BOLAND -1 WON 0/10 32 POINTS 11TH

DAVE TWIST -2 WON 5/10 54 POINTS 6TH on less points than Nick

DUDLEY WRIGHT -3 WON 9/10 66 POINTS 1ST on more points than Hazel

PAUL MAGUIRE -3 WON 7/10 64 POINTS 3RD

HAZEL RICHARDS -3 WON 9/10 64 POINTS 2ND on less points than Dudley

So Top 8 qualify after Hazel beat Dudley 7-3 in battle of undeafeated, in 9th match, before losing 7-1 to 3rd Place Paul to surrender top spot back to Dudley. It’s fair to say all Quarter Finalists will feel they could have gone even further, what a tournament!

What a final, Dudley edged 1st set with some generous line calls by Hazel, Hazel looks down and out but pulls out amazing winners to save 4 match points to take the 2nd set to force a decider, for the watching crowd. Dudley takes the early advantage and goes 4-2 up before the unimagineable happens, one of Hazel’s fans cuts the floodlight wires forcing the lights to go out(not really, but the lights did trip at the most inconvenient time). The players had a good 7-8 minute wait before the lights problem was rectified, Hazel came inside and Dudley stayed out focusing. Just 4 more points were played with Dudley winning 3 to take the French Open title presented by the nearly man Nick Allen.

Here are the current standings with just the Wimbledon and US Opens to play. Dudley joins Rhiannon at top, Paul consolidates 3rd but moves closer to leaders and Hazel and Tim are tied for 4th after being runner up in their only events. Nick Allen is hovering in 6th waiting to pounce, and a Grand Slam win from anyone will put them right in the mix for the ATP finals!

See you on Jan 13th for WIMBLEDON, Anthony already entered and Dudley gets free wildcard for his French success!

In the meantime some light Christmas relief in the Turkey Tennis 2012 Mixed Doubles tournament check it out down below on previous post!